Mario & Luigi: The Sword of Mushrooms
by ShadowGenerations
Summary: When Mario and Luigi, two unsuspecting plumbers, learn they were chosen by the stars, they must embark on a dangerous quest to track down the legendary Sword of Mushrooms before Bowser, leader of the evil Koopa Troop, does or it will spell the end of the Mushroom Kingdom as they know it. This is a new retelling of the adventure that started it all.
1. The Mysterious Crow

_The Sword of Mushrooms_

_**Chapter I - The Mysterious Crow  
**_

* * *

The crow looked down and cawed as he reached his destination, a house standing in a field of trees and grassy hills. It had a red roof and a white picketed fence. The crow lighted down on a high branch of a large apple tree that grew just outside a bedroom window on the left side. He listened closely and soon heard a loud and obnoxious ringing sound.

Inside, Mario sat up in his bed and yawned as he silenced the alarm clock between his and Luigi's beds.

"Is it morning already?" Luigi groaned as he lifted his head from the indentation in his pillow.

"Sure is," said Mario.

Then suddenly, rousing themselves wide awake, the two brothers gave each other a fierce stare, then bolted for the door and got themselves wedged in.

"I'm going first this time, Mario!" Luigi grunted as he struggled against his brother. The bathroom and shower were downstairs and they were fighting to see who got first dibs. This happened so very often that it had practically become their morning routine. And as usual, Mario's shorter size, despite being the older brother, snagged his victory as he slipped through, while Luigi almost fell over face-first.

"Victory is mine!" Mario laughed as he raced down the stairs.

"Don't use up all the water this time!" Luigi shouted. Grumbling to himself over how Mario always beats him, he went over to the window to pick an apple for breakfast. When he drew the yellow curtains and saw the crow out on the branch, he was startled. He wondered what it was doing there since crows usually hung out in dark and gloomy-looking places like the Boo Woods. The crow didn't seem to pay him any mind. Nevertheless, Luigi carefully opened the window and reached his hand out to pluck the nearest apple. The crow, with those odd, vacant-looking white eyes, merely blinked at him. Luigi got his apple. Then he closed the window and the curtains and headed downstairs.

After taking their turns in the shower and getting cleaned up, Mario and Luigi got dressed in their usual outfits. Mario wore a red shirt and blue overalls along with a pair of brown work boots, white gloves, and a red hat with a red M embroidered on the front. Luigi wore the same thing, except his shirt and hat, which bore a green L, were green and his overalls a darker shade of blue. Their fashion sense wasn't the only thing they had in common, though. As twins, they also shared bulbous noses, light blue eyes, brown hair, and most of all, thick dark mustaches that always seemed to attract admiration from strangers, especially from the ladies.

They sat down at their kitchen table to eat their breakfast. Mario helped himself to two slices of jam-spread toast and an issue of the _Daily Shroom _newspaper, while Luigi enjoyed a bowl of Frosted Starflakes and half of the apple he'd plucked and sliced.

"Are you sure you won't be needing my help at Mrs. Wittertoad's?" Luigi asked while he chewed his cereal. "You'll get that job done a lot faster with me there."

"I only have to install a few new bathroom pipes, Luigi," Mario said as he read his paper, "The whole thing shouldn't take no more than half an hour."

Mario and Luigi were plumbers and renowned as being among the best. Though they did most of their work in Toad Town, they were also sometimes hired for jobs from its neighboring town, Truffle Town, and even the small and remote settlement, Koopaville.

Back outside, the crow had flown over the house to the edge of the roof by the large, star-topped weather vane. He watched as Mario and Luigi left the house. Mario was carrying a red toolbox and wearing a belt that held his rather large and trusty wooden hammer. The road to Toad Town was several hills down from their home, but the Mario Bros. had a Warp Pipe in their front yard that would get them there in seconds. Warp Pipes were large, usually green-colored, special pipes that acted as two-way transporters, enabling people to quickly travel across great distances in just seconds time. They were found virtually anywhere and were by far the most effective and popular method of travel on Mushroom World. After watching the Mario Bros. disappear down the Warp Pipe, the crow spread his dark little wings and flew off to Toad Town himself.

...

Toad Town was the Mushroom Kingdom's capital and central hub. The crow flew over its happy, bustling streets and straight over to Castle Toadstool. The regal castle stood at the north end of town, surrounded by a large moat and a wide outer wall. It had pearly white stone walls and many towers capped with red spires. Behind the castle was a small but beautiful garden filled with brightly colored flowerbeds and a glistening fountain between a pair of star-shaped statues in the center of a hedge maze. A single large tree with pink leaves grew at the end of the garden. The crow flew down to the tree and settled on one of its branches. A trio of smaller songbirds were occupying another branch and in the midst of a chirpy song. The crow tried to ignore them as he observed the person below them.

Princess Peach was sitting in the shade of the tree at a small round table. She was listening to the birds while enjoying a cup of tea and a saucer of cookies. A beautiful, young woman dressed in a floor-length pink gown, Peach had long, golden-yellow hair and bright blue eyes. As she began to hum to the birds' song, which she had become familiarized with, she heard Toadsworth, the castle steward, calling out to her.

"Princess! Are you out here?"

"Oh boy," Peach said with a sigh. The birds had stopped singing, to which the crow was grateful.

After a few more minutes of repeatedly calling the princess' name, Toadsworth finally emerged from the hedge maze, leaning on his walking stick as he caught his breath. He always hated walking through it, and he knew Peach was aware of that. Toadsworth was an elderly yet sprightly Toad with a puffy, white mustache and tiny black glasses. And like all Toads, he was really short, even shorter than Mario, and kind of stout, and he wore a really large, round hat shaped like a mushroom cap. All Toads wore these and they came in a variety of colors; his was beige with brown spots. He also wore a red bowtie and a purple, sleeveless jacket with gold trim over a matching vest with gold buttons.

"Princess, why didn't you answer me when I was calling your name?" Toadsworth huffed.

"Guess I didn't hear you," Peach lied as she sipped her tea. She winked at the songbirds, who giggled.

Toadsworth raised a stern eyebrow at her. "Well, some papers were just sent over that need your signature."

"Okay," Peach said. "Do you have them with you?"

Toadsworth blinked. "No," he said slowly. "They're waiting for you in your office. I suppose I should've brought them with me instead."

"It's okay, Toadsworth," Peach said as she stood up. "I'll go and sign them. And then I'd like to take a walk through the park, if that's okay with you."

"Certainly. You are the princess after all."

Peach then finished the last of her tea and took the last cookie as she headed back toward the maze. Unlike Toadsworth, she knew her way around it well. Toadsworth was about to follow her when he spotted the crow in the tree. He frowned at the sight of it and fretfully waved his stick at it. "Shoo!" he demanded. "Away with you at once!"

The crow cawed at Toadsworth and flew away. Toadsworth grumbled to himself, then hurried after Peach before he found himself wandering aimlessly through the maze again.

...

Less than an hour later, the crow had perched on the rooftop of a house in town. The house across it belonged to Mrs. Wittertoad. The crow had followed Mario here just prior to visiting the castle and was now waiting for him to come back out, if he hadn't already. Several minutes later, though, Mario came out of the Mrs. Wittertoad's house. He had his toolbox in one hand and a little bag of gold coins in the other. Mrs. Wittertoad, a Toad with a white-spotted blue cap was standing in her doorway.

"You have a nice day now, Mrs. Wittertoad," said Mario.

"You, too, dear, and thanks again," said Mrs. Wittertoad. "And say hello to your brother for me."

Mario tossed the bag of coins in his hand for another job well done and began to whistle as he went on his way. The crow saw his opportunity. His eyes narrowed, he swooped down from behind Mario and snatched his hat in his little beak right off his head.

"What the — " Mario had a stunned look on his face. The crow circled above him with his hat clamped in its beak. "Hey, you little creep! Give me back my hat!"

The crow swooped down again and carved a tight, little circle around Mario before flying away. But Mario wasn't about to let that happen. That hat was his most cherished possession he'd had ever since he was a baby. He dropped his toolbox and bag of coins and bolted down the street after it. The crow made sure to fly low and slow enough so Mario wouldn't lose him. But not too slow, though. Mario's hat felt heavy. He wouldn't be able to hold onto it like this for very long. Just as Mario saw him steer right and shoot over the roof of a house, he bent his legs and suddenly jumped onto the roof himself as if he had just been bounced off a giant spring. Then he bounded again off the roof and high into the air, his hand reaching for the crow. He caught the flying thief by surprise and was about to grab him by the tail feathers, but the crow quickly banked right and escaped his capture. _Darn it! _Mario's feet hit the ground, but then he saw the crow lose his grip on his hat and drop it. It fell onto the street. _Now's my chance! _he thought and dashed for it. The crow was swooping down to seize it back as well. _Oh, no you don't!_ Mario sped in and grabbed his giant hammer. Just as the crow was about to snatch it up, he brought it down and smashed the ground. _No!_ He missed! The crow was flapping his way back into the air with his hat in his beak once again.

"Oh, you are so going to get it!" Mario said through his clenched teeth. He looked in the direction the crow was flying in. He appeared to be heading for the Toad Town park. He wasn't far from it, and hurried.

Even though the park wasn't very big, Mario was sure he'd lose the crow somewhere among all the trees if he wasn't careful. Still, he got the sense that escape was not his plan. For whatever reason, the crow was prolonging this on purpose. For what, though, Mario wondered. He soon caught up with the mischievous crow, who was perched on the branch of a tree. Mario ran over to it, but as soon as he got too close, the crow fluttered over to the branch of another tree up ahead. Mario growled. Now what was he up to? Mario grabbed his hammer again and ran to the second tree. But again, the crow fled over to another. Mario's face turned red. He looked as mad as an angry Wiggler. He continued to chase the crow, who kept hopping from tree to free, through the park. How long was this bird going to keep up this ridiculous game of keep-away?

Then all of a sudden, after flying over to what felt like the fifteenth tree, the crow relinquished Mario's hat and dropped it to the ground. Mario blinked and approached with caution. Keeping a sharp eye on the crow, he quickly swiped his hat up and placed it back on his head. He felt whole again. Then he glowered up at the crow and wondered why it did all this. Why did he take his hat? And why did he lead him all the way into the park? This was not normal crow behavior at all. Crows kept to themselves and rarely, if ever, interacted with people. What was it even doing here in these parts in the first place?

"Alright, you crummy ball of feathers," Mario spat, "what's the big idea?"

The crow whispered a caw to him and pointed his peak past the tree. Mario looked around and saw that they had stopped at a nearby playground. But most of the Toad kids playing in the area were gathered around a park bench. And when Mario saw who it was that was sitting on the bench, he quickly hid behind the tree and felt his heartbeat speeding up. It was Princess Peach, the girl of his dreams.

* * *

**_Well, here's the first chapter of my new and improved version of this story. See my profile more details._**


	2. Deja Vu

_The Sword of Mushrooms_

_**Chapter II - Deja Vu  
**_

* * *

Mario blinked. Why did that crow go through all this trouble just to lure him over to where Peach was? And how did it even know she was here? Was it watching her, too? What else did it know? Mario shuddered. Did it know that he had a secret crush on Peach, a secret crush he had harbored for years? _Impossible!_ Mario thought. He looked up at the branch, but the crow was gone. He looked around. It wasn't anywhere to be seen, either. Mario thought it once, and he thought it again: that was no ordinary crow.

It no longer mattered to him anyway. The crow was gone and Peach was right there. Mario hadn't seen her in a month and was really eager to go over to her. _If only those kids weren't there, though,_ he thought. He'd much rather do this while she was alone. He wondered what Peach was doing with them anyway. From the look of things, she appeared to be in the midst of telling them a story. And judging by how spellbound the children all looked, it must've been a good one.

Mario chose to give it just another minute or two. After that he would march himself over there, regardless if the children were still there or not. But his patience was soon rewarded. The children all got up and scuttled back over to the playground. Peach remained seated and watched them. _Excellent,_ Mario thought. He was just about to make his move, when Luigi unexpectedly came running up to him from behind. Talk about bad timing.

"How'd you know I was here?" Mario whispered.

Luigi blinked at him. "I followed you," he whispered back. "I was at the bakery when I saw you run by like there was a building on fire. What's up?"

Mario had neither the desire nor the time to explain things. The details were just too farfetched. Instead, he merely pointed out Peach to him. Luigi blinked in surprise. Mario was then shocked by what happened next. Luigi called out to Peach at the top of his voice and waved to her. Mario could've hit the ground.

"She's waving to us," Luigi said, oblivious to Mario's stunned expression. "She looks happy to see us, too. C'mon!"

Mario acted quick and darted behind Luigi as they went over. The last thing he wanted was for Peach to see him coming out from behind the tree and asking him about it.

"Luigi, Mario," Peach said with a beaming smile. "This is a pleasant surprise. It sure has been a while."_  
_

"I'll say," said Luigi. "What are you doing here in the park on this lovely morning?

"Oh, I just came here for a little me time before I got started on my royal duties. A princess' job is never done. Then I decided to entertain the children over there by telling them the story of how my dad defeated Growser."

_No wonder those kids were paying such close attention, _Mario thought_. _He and Luigi had been told this story, which was known as the Battle of Toad Town, many times themselves when they were kids.

Mario and Luigi then joined Peach on the bench. It really felt like old times again. The three of them used to hang out together like this all the time, back when King Giles was still around. But ever since he had mysteriously disappeared three years ago, Peach had had to run the entire kingdom by herself. And even though she was doing a splendid job of it and was adored by everyone, her work kept her away a lot. These days, moments like these were a little hard to come by.

"So what have you guys been up to lately?" Peach asked.

"Well," Luigi began in a somewhat boastful tone, "I don't know about Mario here, but you'll be interested to know that I've recently been taking cooking lessons from Mrs. Bea." Mrs. Bea was a middle-aged Toad who owned and ran the town bakery Luigi so very often visited. She was also a highly skilled cook whose talents were known throughout the kingdom.

"That's great, Luigi," said Peach. "It's always good to learn a new skill, and Mrs. Bea is a fabulous cook. I'm sure with her teachings, you can become one of the greats yourself some day."

"You really think so?" Luigi asked, then took a moment to think about it. At first, he imagined himself owning a bakery of his very own in town, but then that quickly faded into his true heart's desire, which was himself surrounded by hills of delicious baked goods from cookies to cakes, all made by his own hand and all for himself. Luigi's eyes gleamed and his mouth hung open as he gazed into this mouth-watering fantasy. Mario and Peach exchanged awkward glances. It didn't take a mind reader to know what he was dreaming of. _He better not start drooling,_ Mario thought.

Suddenly, a panic exploded over at the playground. The children were scurrying out of the way of a manic Fuzzy that was wildly bouncing about. A Toad girl was desperately trying to catch it. Mario jumped from the bench. This looked dangerous. Fuzzies were parasitic little critters that liked to suck the energy out of other living beings. What was one doing here in the park?

"Somebody, catch my Fuzzy!" the little Toad girl cried.

_That Fuzzy's her pet?_ Mario thought in bewilderment.

The Fuzzy was now bouncing toward him, Luigi, and Peach. Mario tried to intercept it. He had to protect Peach. But it was just too quick. The black, furry critter bounded over his head and smacked directly into Luigi's face. Luigi squealed as he was flipped over the bench and floored. He then felt his bare head and cried, "My hat! He's got my hat!" Mario and Peach stared as the Fuzzy made off wearing Luigi's prized possession. _Not this again! _Mario groaned as he bolted after it, with Luigi right on his heels. They chased the frenzied Fuzzy over to the nearest tree and watched as it leaped up onto a high branch. Then, unexpectedly, it settled down, and from where Mario and Luigi were standing, they could hear snoring — it had fallen asleep!

"I'll take it from here," said Luigi as he rolled up his sleeves.

Mario was more than happy to let him. He had already gone through this once this morning and was in no mood to repeat it. He took a few steps back to give Luigi some room as he analyzed the height of the branch. Luigi possessed an even higher jump than Mario's and could make it in a single bound. He bent his legs, just as Mario had done before, and shot straight up. The branch shook as he grabbed it with both hands. His body then hung and froze. The Fuzzy woke up, its big eyes popping wide open. It let out a loud _Meeork _sound and pounced on Luigi's face. Luigi screamed as he plummeted and flattened Mario, who tried to catch him, like a pancake. Meanwhile, the Fuzzy safely hit the ground. Seemingly calmed, it bounced all the way back to the Toad girl, who'd been standing over at the bench with Peach.

"Thank you, Mario Bros.!" the girl yelled happily, and took her Fuzzy away.

Peach went over to Mario and Luigi as they were picking themselves off the ground and handed back Luigi's hat.

"Well, guys," she giggled, "that was some rescue."

"All in a day's work," Mario groaned as he straightened his back out. "What happened, anyway? How did all this start?"

"Well, the little girl told me that one of the boys over there frightened it with a prank. That's why it freaked out like that. Are you guys okay?"

"I'll be fine," Mario said. He was still a little hunched over and sore. Luigi, on the other hand, didn't seem to be in any pain at all. Not surprising considering he had just used him, Mario, as a human cushion. "So, where do we go from here?"

"Well, actually," Peach said with a little sigh. "I need to be heading back to the castle now."

"A princess' job is never done," Mario recalled. He sighed as well. "I guess we'll see you around, then?" But to him that felt like it could be days or weeks until then.

"Or," said Luigi suddenly, "if you're free tonight, princess, you can come over to our house for dinner. We're ordering pizza. And I'll be preparing something extra special for dessert."

"Really? What is it?"

"It's a surprise. You'll have to show up to see for yourself."

"Well, I do like surprises," Peach said with playful inquisitiveness. "Okay, you twisted my arm. I'll be there! This sounds like it's going to be a real blast. I can't wait."

Mario couldn't, either. What a great morning this turned out to be, he thought. And to think, it was all thanks to that mysterious, pesky crow. Thinking of which, after he, Luigi, and Peach parted ways, Mario bolted back through the park to go and retrieve his toolbox and bag of coins he'd left behind when this whole thing had started. Once again, that same thought raced through his head: That was no ordinary crow.

* * *

_**Sorry it took so long to post this. A lot of work went into this one.**_


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